Historic guitar summit and music camp comes to Maplewood

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Beginning Feb. 28, guitarists from around the globe will descend on the leafy suburb of Maplewood for the chance to learn from and listen to some of the greatest living acoustic guitar players as they celebrate the musical legacy of Gypsy Jazz legend Django Reinhardt.

This music camp is a first-class program designed to provide musicians of all levels access to the greatest instruction and teachers available. It is part of the Django A-Go-Go Festival founded by renowned guitarist and Maplewood resident Stephane Wrembel.

Wrembel will be joined for this weeklong series of master classes, seminars and educational forums by a “who’s who” of internationally acclaimed artists. This includes Dutch-born virtuoso Stochelo Rosenberg, considered the world’s leading proponent of gypsy jazz guitar style, and Al Di Meola, an icon of ’70s jazz fusion and five-time winner of Guitar Player Magazine’s Readers Poll for Best Jazz Guitarist. Other artists participating in the festival include Alfonso Ponticelli, Paulus Schafer, Larry Keel, Juanito Pascual, David Gastine, Olli Soikkeli, Thor Jensen, Denis Chang and Sara L’Abriola.

The music camp has attracted more than 60 regional and international students, instructors and performers. With guitarists coming from France, England, Australia, Chile, the Netherlands and across the United States, Maplewood will for one week be the epicenter of the acoustic guitar world.

In addition to the daytime camp activities, the Django A-Go-Go Festival continues each evening with a series of concerts at The Woodland, 60 Woodland Road in Maplewood, beginning at 8 p.m. The festival schedule includes: an opening night performance on Tuesday, Feb. 28, by Wrembel, L’Abriola and special guests; “Django Flamenco” on Wednesday, March 1, with Ponticelli and Pascual; Soikkeli and Rhythm Future Quartet on Thursday, March 2; “Django A-Go-Go at Carnegie Hall” on Friday, March 3, for which Wrembel and company will head to Manhattan for an all-star concert at Carnegie Hall; Schafer and special guests performing Saturday, March 4; and a student performance that is free to the public on Sunday, March 5, at 11 a.m.

Paulus Schafer and Special Guests

For concert tickets and more information, visit https://www.mt.cm/django-gogo-2017-music-festival-and-camp.

Camp activities will take place at The Woodland and Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts, 10 Durand Road in Maplewood. For the week, camp will begin at 9 a.m. and break for lunch at 12:30 p.m. Returning at 2 p.m., students will work until 6 p.m., take a break for dinner and be back at the Woodland for 8 p.m. performances.

  Burgdorff, Django A Gogo, Maplewood Recreation, The Woodland